She's Falling Short
by Knight-Owl1117
Summary: Thalia is stuck, accidentally mixing with the wrong sort of people. She's misunderstood by everyone, all while battling her addiction with smoking. One night she runs away to the heart of New York, where she meets Percy Jackson. Falling in love is the best or worst thing that could happen now, especially since she promised not to ever give herself to a boy. Perlia.
1. Chapter 1

"Thalia Grace, you most certainly aren't going going out tonight." Thalia rolled her eyes as her stepmother waved a dish towel in her face. She put on her leather jacket as her guardian stomped aroun the kitchen, waving a spatula and ranting in about teenagers.

"What about Annabeth?" Hera growled, bustling over to the stove.

"Yeah, what about her?" Thalia said sourly, slipping her headphones on. Her stepmother gave her a severe glare over the pot of boiling water.

"She's in junior high!" Hera marched up to Thalia, even though she stood a head shorter. "What's she going to start thinking, with you going to parties every weekend? And do you have any thought for Jason? He's in preschool, and you're smoking and drinking around him."

Thalia rolled her eyes at Hera's glare.

"Whatever." She turned her iPod on full volume and marched out of the door to the apartment. Thalia strolled down the stairs with Green Day blasting though her ears and pranced out of the lobby, not caring about the disgusted looks she was getting.

Despite the rumours Hera believed, she was not going to a party. Instead, she was going to a group. Her favourite people, and of course, the pet dog. She marched across the street up to the apartment, and up to the room she knew they would be in.

"Knock, knock, miss Nightshade." Thalia whispered sarcastically. She hit her first against the door. A girl a few years older than her opened the door. She put her hand out, and Thalia entered.

"It's time you started to wear silver, like the rest of us." Zoe's eyes flickered over Thalia's all black outfit.

"Black, like my soul." She smirked, tapping at her jacket. "Got a smoke?" Zoe frowned.

"Your soul isn't black, it's red and energetic like you are." Zoe corrected. She dug around in her silver jacket for a minute and let the silence hang heavily over them, before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "I don't think Artemis would like you smoking in here."

Thalia clicked on the lighter and let the fire flicker across the cigarette. Zoe watched her nervously, as she blew smoke around the room.

"Well I don't give a damn if Artemis cares or not." Thalia took a long breath. Her friend bit her lip and watched the smoke circle around the fan on the ceiling.

"It's about time you should care, Thalia Grace." Zoe said quietly.

"Do you want me here or not?" Thalia snapped angrily, turning around. Zoe's hands flew out of her pocket and she jumped, nodding vigorously. "Then I don't want to hear my last name!"

"Watch your tongue, _Thalia_."

"Artemis." Thalia said, letting the cigarette hang loosely in her mouth. "What a pleasure." Artemis raised her eyebrows, stealing a look towards Zoe.

"Someday that rapid moth of yours is going to get you into trouble." Artemis said quietly. The air was tense, and Zoe licked her lips and inched away. "You are brave, and vain. This is my house, I hope you know you don't own the Hunt." Thalia watched Artemis' dog walk stealthily down the hall. Even the familiar animal's presence didn't make her feel better.

Her moth tasted dry, and Artemis was raising one of her well-defined eyebrows at her.

"But, we are a family, Thalia." Her voice turned much kinder, and she put a hand in Thalia's back. "Let's go into the sitting room. The girls in college in the Hunt will be here in a minute. Phoebe isn't going to be here, though. She's in a gang, did you know?"

As Thalia sprawled over the couches, she couldn't help but hear the threat in the last sentence. Zoe lounged on the opposite couch, flicking through the channels on the TV.

"So, Nightshade, where's the Hunt?" Zoe turned her head towards Thalia's voice.

"Mmm." Her eyes moved back towards the screen. "They got sidetracked by a cat in the alley. College girls, stupid and dumb."

"What, they're going to keep the cat?" Thalia almost laughed at the thought of seeing her friends, all dressed in their creepy outfits, fawning over a cat, petting it and whatnot.

"Nah." Zoe said lazily. "They went to put it to sleep. We are called the Hunt, it's obvious. I forgot, you're a newbie."

Thalia gripped her arm, letting her nails pierce her skin. "You kill animals?" She felt her arm bleeding lightly. "What the hell! I thought you guys were just normal friends, even though you're extreme feminists and all." She mumbled the last bit.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "What, going to ditch? Calling the police? Arty won't like that, she can get dangerous."

Thalia felt her stomach turn over. "I'm going." She stood up, pulling on her headphones and leather jacket, shivering slightly in fear. Thalia took her cigarette out and crushed the tip.

"Whatever. I want my lighter back." Zoe said. Thalia tugged the lighter out of her jacket pocket and threw it on to the couch. She turned around and practically ran out the door and down the stairs.

Someone honked at her and she heard a man shout and try to grab her waist. Thalia shoved him off and broke into a real run down the sidewalk, knocking into a tourist. She didn't care, and she ran until she reached the nearest shop.

It was nestled between a sushi bar with dim candles casting a red glow and a barbershop with glaring bright lights a neon sign. It was a cafe of some sort. She saw a girl in an apron taking out a key. Thalia didn't care and threw herself though the door.

It was nice and warm, with lots of tables and cushions. The walls were a dark oak, and the counter with pastries and sandwiches was made of logs. Thalia didn't have a lot of time to admire anything, since the girl in the apron was in her face.

"What the heck?" She yelled in a British accent. "Are you blind, girl? I expect it would be obvious to anyone were closing!" She furiously waved the keys in Thalia's face.

"Katie, get out of the poor girl's face." A voice called front behind the counter. Katie dropped her hand and turned around, to look at the boy. Thalia caught a look at him and she froze. He had windswept hair and drop, green eyes. He was staring intently at the girl in the apron. Thalia turned red, and ran a hand though her spiky hair.

"I know you've had a long day, Katie-Kat." The hot boy said, leaning over the counter. "You go home and bang Travis, I'll serve this chick. Bianca won't mind whipping up and extra meal. I'll close up after."

Katie looked so relieved she dropped the keyes. "Thanks, Percy." She walked forward and started to take off her apron, before turning flustered and fanning her face. "I am not going to bang Travis!" Percy laughed loudly at her pink face.

"Fine, then go make love." Percy reached over the counter and pulled her apron off with a flick of his wrist, leaving her gaping at him. Katie then turned on her heels and swiftly marched out of the cafe.

"Well I'm guessing you need food." Percy leaned over the cash register to talk to Thalia. She blinked and found herself shaking her head. "No?"

Thalia found herself talking to him. "I just got away from something, just needed a place to sit and think." Percy nodded.

"When something happens, some people need to talk about it. Some need to show emotion, and other need to think. Some, though, find comfort in the form of devouring food." He said wisely. Thalia found herself laughing a little at that.

"I don't need to eat, but I could use a small cake, now that you mention it." Thalia pulled out her wallet, fishing out a few dollars.

"If you want, you can talk to me." Percy stated casually, punching in numbers to the register.

"Why? You're a stranger." Thalia pointed out.

"My name is Percy Jackson, I'm in high school." Percy said, taking her money. "There. I'm not a stranger."

"You could still be a murder." Thalia said wisely, walking over to a table.

"I could." He smirked."Take your chances."

"Okay Mr. Serial killer, you can sit with me." Thalia shrugged off her leather jacket and leaned back in her chair. She watched Percy walk over to the kitchen and back, and she found herself staring at his back, or the way his fingers moved carefully to sign the paper.

"I have your cake." He set it down with a fork in front of her, and then he sat in the seat across from her. "What's your name?"

"Thalia." She said, taking a chunk of cake on her fork. She was positive she was turning red as Percy watched her curiously.

"Beautiful name, Thalia." Percy said, testing it out.

"Thanks, I got it for my birthday." She joked. He laughed, a loud and happy laugh, which Thalia though beat any deep laugh Annabeth would tell her sounded cute.

"So tell me your story." Percy said.

"I can't believe I'm going to." Thalia said, swallowing her bite of food and leaning her head on the table. With his eye in her, she started to talk, somehow not caring that she barely knew him, or than Bianca, the girl in th back, might hear her.


	2. Chapter 2

Thalia couldn't even close her eyes.

She lay quietly on her side, trying to fall asleep. Thalia didn't know how long she was on her side, but it was enough for her to think up horrible scenarios in her head, Artemis sending the Hunt after her, threatening her with a knife, like the one they'd killed a stray cat with. As uncomfortable as her sleeping position was, she didn't move, so Annabeth wouldn't know she was still awake.

As right as Hera could be sometimes, Annabeth was never going to hit the bottom like Thalia. She had to give her little sister credit, that girl was smart. Thalia knew Annabeth wasn't going to smoke, and in fact Annabeth was the only one who bothered lecturing Thalia or knocking the lighter out of her hand.

The mansion of an apartment Zeus bought to please Hera was big enough for Annabeth and Thalia to have separate rooms, and an extra room for Jason's toys, though the three of them slept in the same room. It was the happiest situation, they all felt less lonely, even though Annabeth hated it when Thalia would blast her music during their designated homework time and Jason would cry when the girls moved his toys on accident.

Thalia thought of her conversation with Annabeth. She'd entered the apartment feeling better after her chat with Percy Jackson, though her mood had dropped with Hera scowling at her. With a small "goodnight" to Hera, Thalia had gone upstairs to find Annabeth hovering over her Pre-Algebra notes and Jason asleep on her pillow.

"You met someone." Annabeth had said. Thalia had been taken aback, but Annabeth was very smart and she could easily read Thalia- something endearing, yet she hated it, since she wasn't supposed to be easy to figure out. Her sister had known to some extent about the Hunt, but her tone wasn't implying that the person was in the Hunt.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Thalia had replied in a quiet voice, draping her jacket over Jason.

"I want to meet him, Thalia." She had casually thrown out, flicking a page of her textbook. Thalia had frozen.

"I never said he was a boy." Thalia had said sharply. Jason squirmed on her pillow.

"Your headphones aren't on." Annabeth had stated. "And you always have them on when you get back from visiting _them_ or coming home from school." Thalia had been at a loss for words.

"God, you are smart." She had said, impressed. Annabeth had given her a smile and picket Jason off Thalia's bed and moved him to his.

Now, laying in bed, Thalia waned to get away from Jason's soft snore and the sounds of Annabeth flicking the pages of her novel. She felt guilty, especially guilty that she wanted nothing more than to run up the emergency stairs of the apartment and out into the roof, to sit there and kill herself slowly, breathing in the toxic smoke from her rolled up stick of cancer.

Slowly, she forced herself to close her eyes and fall asleep to the sounds of Annabeth reading late into the night.

"Thalia, you've already hit snooze three times." Annabeth's sleepy voice woke her up. "Someday the alarm's going to wake up Jason."

Thalia sat up and rubbed her eyes. Annabeth was at the closet, already awake with a small cup up of tea in one hand and a sweater in the other. She slowly fell out of her bed to the floor, letting the blanket roll around her. Her younger sister laughed quietly and set down her tea.

"Big sister, get up."

"No" Thalia groaned in response.

"You're walking me to school today." Annabeth whispers. "Imagine mom's face if I told her I walked by myself in New York city this morning. You'd get it for sure." Thalia's eyes shot open and she tried stand up, even though she tripped on the blanket. She cursed under her breath and hopped Annabeth hadn't heard.

"Hera is never going to replace your mom, Annabeth." She said as she pulled out her black shirt. Annabeth sighed and Thalia knew her sister was looking at the photo of Athena that was always on her desk.

Thalia slouched downstairs and let Annabeth cook her something. Her eyes felt heavy, but she forced herself up to make coffee- the food of the gods. The only thing keeping her awake was the smell of the beans roasting in one of the fancy electronic coffee makers Thalia's dad had blown his money on.

They both sat at the large, custom table as Annabeth picked at her eggs and Thalia chugged down her coffee- even if it stung a bit down her throat. It wasn't too silent, New York was never asleep, and you could already hear the traffic. Luckily most of the population wasn't out, neither were the tourists, so the street wasn't too crowded with the familiar yellow cabs.

"Off to school now." Thalia plucked up Annabeth's plate and slid it into the sink. "Go grab your backpack." The two of them walked back to their room and Annabeth stuffed all of her papers into her folder. Thalia picked up her school work and grabbed clothes for Jason. She unbuttoned his shirt to he wouldn't have to ask Hera, it was something she always did. Hera hated Thalia's mom, but she loathed her children most, Jason above all. It broke Thalia's heart when Jason had come up and asked her to get his clothes ready when she got up before him, because he was too scared to ask Hera in case she might yell at him.

She took one last look at Jason and leaned in to kiss his forehead, before remembering her breath probably smelled like nicotine and lung cancer, it was one of those things that stuck. Thalia couldn't leave that mark on him, so she ran out the room to catch up to Annabeth.

"I'm sorry you have to be here fifteen minutes early." Thalia said in a low voice, checking her watch. Annabeth's eyes were trained on a boy with curtly brown hair.

"Its okay, Thalia." Annabeth pointed at the boy. "I have one of my best friends, Grover." She noticed that Grover was looking at Annabeth and nervously glancing at Thalia.

"Go on, before I scare away the poor boy." She said firmly, giving Annabeth a small shove. Thalia got a small wave, before her sister disappeared. She walked back on the streets, to where a few blocks down here school would be. There were already a lot of people. It was much easier to navigate the streets when she was younger, since she was so short and no one stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to take a selfie of themselves and the city behind then.

One thing was true, Thalia disliked tourists.

It was always "Where is Times Square?" or "How far to Central Park?", never a "please" or "excuse me" or "Can I ask you a question Miss Thalia Grace?". The tourists were the worst, and Thalia never knew how they strayed to her part of the city, farther away from the busy attractions. They also looked like the stereotypical American tourists, with polo shirts, baseball caps and large black cameras around their necks.

So Thalia began her usual morning activity, walking down the street to school with her heavy bag over her shoulder. After bumping past the crowd she ended up at her school. It was old and made of brick, with a football field out back. Whenever Thalia had to drop Annabeth off she arrived at school early.

And that was no good. You had the mean popular girls plodding along in high heels, lead by Drew. The athletic crew and the jocks were okay, even thought the girls never really joked a lot. Thalia respected their hardcore leader, Reyna, because she was cool. No one else. Especially the idiots on the football team, Travis and Connor Stoll. The worst in the morning were the bad boys. She didn't know if they came from the wrong neighborhoods or they were rich slacks, all she knew is to stay clear of Orion and his violent pack.

"Hey Grace, looking fine." Ethan whistled at her from the gang. She could hear Orion cackling in the back.

"Hey Namakura, looking like an douchebag." Thalia said without missing a beat, shooting him the bird. Orion's gang laughed it off.

"Yeah, Grace!" Orion called out. Thalia grumbled under her breath and turned around. "Hey, you!"

"What do you want, _Orion_." She spat, wrinkling her nose at his black tank top and sagging pants. He had a baseball cap on backwards, and it annoyed Thalia to no end that his cigarette hung loosely the same way Zoe's did when they sat on the balcony and had a smoke.

_Not time to think of the Hunt. _

"Your place or mine?" He called. Thalia bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from going up to him and breaking his long and ugly nose. His gang laughed loudly and Drew shot her a dirty look from the staircase where she was teasing a nerd.

"Both," Thalia said sweetly, marching up to him. "You go to yours, I go to mine." Thalia allowed a pause for effect. "Oh, and bring Drew along, she looks- well." Thalia didn't have to say anything. After hearing Thalia's rejection to Orion, Drew had stood up and put on her most seductive face and stomped over. Thalia strolled into the school as the bell rang, leaving Orion to who would soon be his newest fling.

She let the day fly by without thinking. It happens by this time, early October, where he work load wasn't too much yet, but you had already gone quite a ways in to the school year. Thalia sat with her weird, yet outgoing sort of friend, Luke Castellan. They used to be better friends, Luke went with Orion for a few years, ditching Thalia, and then had come back, so he was in some sort of awkward limbo.

In sixth period she got a text message from Helen. Thalia cast a glance at her teacher before unlocking her phone.

**Thalia Grace, make sure to pick little Annabeth up. **

She snorted silently, imaging Annabeth's reacting at being called little. After the classes where done, she didn't even bother with the best friend crap most people did- instead of waiting at Luke's locker, she burst out the doors and down the dirty and noisy streets to Annabeth's Junior High. She knew it was a waste, since she would have to put it out by the time she was at the school, but she lit a cigarette, careful to not light the tourists on fire (as much as she wanted to) and stuck it in her mouth.

"How'd your math test go?" She said after crushing the small stick of lung cancer, pulling Annabeth out of the curb so she wouldn't ruh into a parked Taxi. Annabeth's face lit up and she smiled.

"Great!" She said, pulling Thalia's arm along. "When do I meet the boy?" Thalia was so surprised by the quick change in topic that she tripped on the sidewalk crack.

"What?" She choked out. "Today? Nuh, uh, imagine how pissed off Hera would be if I got her _precious little Annie darling_ home a minute late-"

"I don't care." Annabeth rolled her eyes at Thalia's high pitched interpretation. "He's making you happy, I'm going to meet him." She gave Annabeth a death glare.

"I met him yesterday, he's a stranger!" Thalia said indignantly. "I barely know him, he's not a friend, and I don't even know if he's going to be there."

"A stranger and a boy you barely know are different, Thals." Annabeth said knowingly. "They aren't synonyms- _ouch_!" Thalia had pinched her arm, hard.

"Okay." Thalia said, pulling Annabeth along as she slouched along the sidewalk. "Fine. Later tonight. I'll buy you a cake there if you shut up until seven." Annabeth pressed her lips together, but smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR READERS!**

**Okay, so, I've been hearing there is going to be a big hack on some of the spn (Supernatural) accounts. These hackers have been going around and telling people in fandom on Tumblr that they should kill themselves- which you shouldn't. You're worth so much. If you are in that fandom or have been hurt, don't listen to whatever they say. If you ever need to talk about anything, just PM me, I will listen. I won't be disgusted, mean or anything. All of are so important and amazing, don't you listen to anyone who says otherwise. I know, it hurts. Please, don't cut yourself or attempt suicide. **

**It hurts so much when I hear someone hurts themselves in our fandom. We're a family, don't ever forget. If you're in the pjo fandom or not, ****_you are worth it._**** Even if you read this when I've posted more chapters, or now, you can PM me or anything. **

Thalia Grace was sure if she heard Hera call her downstairs one more time, she would snap. And it wouldn't be pretty. Thalia had already been forced to clean up after Jason and wash the dishes, and Hera had ruined her evening by announcing she and Zeus had a dinner party- meaning Jason would have to go with her to meet Percy, or she had to ditch her plans and babysit her little brother.

As much as she would've liked to sit herself and her siblings down in front of the TV with a plate of microwaved chicken nuggets, Annabeth was persistent. She had made it clear to Thalia that they were going.

"Its like Cinderella sneaking away from her evil stepmother to go to meet the Prince!"

Thalia didn't bother correcting Annabeth. Cinderella certainly didn't have to study for a physics exam, that was something she was sure of. Jason was reciting the alphabet down the hall with Annabeth, and she was stuck with her load of homework. She threw her textbook down on the floor in frustration and leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.

It was six, and Thalia was sure she was screwed if she didn't finish her homework by seven. She groaned loudly and got up to grab her damaged textbook. Mindlessly she wrote out the answers, mixing up the formulas in her head and writing down the wrong work. By six thirty she compressed an hour's time of homework into a packet of wrong answers and badly written summaries.

"I'm done." She threw her mechanical pencil at the window. It hit the glass and fell back at her feet. Thalia groaned and put her hands up. "Its all wrong, but whatever." Her overconfident voice faded.

"Get down here and make him food!" Thalia heard. She assumed Hera was asking her to make Jason dinner.

"Shut your mouth, I'm at it." Thalia pushed herself out of the chair and put her headphones around her neck, iPod in her pocket. Slouching to the kitchen, she found Jason hiding behind Annabeth. She put a pot of boiling water and grabbed a box of Kraft macaroni, ignoring the gourmet sauces and pasta Zeus had bought to please Hera.

"I going to be at a dinner with your father." Hera leaned towards the mirror over the sink and adjusted her pearl earrings. "Keep Annabeth safe." Thalia sighed, going around the kitchen to grab plates and Jason's Thomas the Train cup.

"Whatever." Thalia shot the bird at her stepmother's back when Jason was looking away. The three of them sat around the table after Hera had left their home. She leaned back in her chair and put her headphones around her neck. Annabeth and Jason ate slowly, flicking macaroni back and forth, Jason making a mess. After they finished, Thalia grabbed the dishes and threw them in the sink. Hoping Annabeth wouldn't notice, she slouched back to her room

"Thalia!" She flinched, turning around to face her sister. Annabeth put on an innocent look, grabbing Jason and pulling him close. "I wanna meet the boy." As mature as Annabeth was, she looked like a little kid begging for candy.

"Thalia has a boyfwiend?" Jason asked from under Annabeth's arm. Thalia gave her little sister a death glare.

"No." She marched to the door, sliding on her combat boots as she went. "Annabeth wants to meet some dude that works at a bakery." Walking out the door, she paused a minute to let Annabeth slide her shoes on and help Jason with his, before jogging down the emergency stairs.

Thalia wasn't sure what Hera's idea of safety was. If she wanted her dear Annabeth safe, she would've not encouraged them going out. New York at night was no place for two teenage girls and a three year old. Percy's cafe was in a relatively safe area, but Thalia was still tense.

It was bright out, you couldn't see the stars. Instead of a black night, the skyline glowed orange. Halfway to the cafe, Thalia tracing her path from Artemis's place (she made sure to walk on the other side of the street), the clouds let down a cold drizzle. Annabeth stole Thalia's leather jacket to use as a hat, so she was stuck in a black shirt, shivering. Jason was skipping into the puddles, laughing. She saw the warm glow of the cafe right after she smelled the cake- the one she had the day she met Katie and Percy.

"In now, Hera can't have wee Annabeth getting a cold." Thalia shoved open the door and guided Jason inside.

"_Shut up."_ Annabeth said, throwing her leather jacket back. The jacket hit her chest hard, and Thalia's heart missed a beat. She could feel the heavy lighter against her lungs, and hoped Annabeth hadn't felt it, hadn't been reminded of Thalia's addiction. A mop of brown hair appeared from behind the pastries. Katie looked up from the counter, surprised.

"Percy's goth girl." She raised an eyebrow at Thalia. "Thanks." Whatever reaction she thought was coming, it was not this.

"What?" Thalia scrunched her face in confusion. "Thanking _me_?" Her siblings stared at her curiously.

"Yeah, I got more break time because of you." Katie smiled, beckoning her to the counter. Thalia gave Annabeth a push forward.

"Who's Percy?"

"_Annabeth_!" Thalia hissed. Katie peered down at her.

"My cousin. His mom owns the place." She shook her head, as if remembering something. "What do you want to order?" Annabeth pointed towards a muffin. Thalia told her to share it with Jason and pulled out some crumpled money from the pockets of her jacket.

"That'll be a total of f-"

"Thalia?" A voice rang out. All four of them turned to look at Percy, standing there in an apron, his hair untidy and dusted with flour. Annabeth's grey eyes flickered from Percy to Thalia.

"So this is the boy." said Annabeth, nodding. Katie snickered at Thalia and Percy turned light pink. Jason was busy squeaking his Batman shoes against the floor to notice.

"The boy?" Percy smiled goofing, tilting his head so that the dust sprinkled onto the floor. "I'm flattered that you were talking about me, Thalia, I didn't think that I grew on you." Thalia was sure she was bright red, feeling embarrassed.

"No, no." Annabeth said, tilting from side to side awkwardly. "I just saw she didn't have her headphones on when she came home, and I drilled out of her that it was a guy, and she always has the music on when she comes home from school or the H-"

"Enough info, Annabeth." Thalia cut her off before the words "the Hunt" could come spilling out of her mouth. Annabeth had the decency to look flushed. Katie glanced between the two teens, before hurrying off to grab a muffin.

"So, Annabeth, I'm Percy Jackson." Percy took of his apron and hung it on a hook. Annabeth looked at the ground. Thalia picked up Jason and led him over to a table. "I like sea green, but also the grey, like your eyes."

"Thanks." Annabeth said, settling herself down on a chair across from Percy. "I like grey, and light blue. I have to wash my hands, though, before I eat. Jason, you should come too." Jason hopped off the chair and grabbed his sister's hand.

They left Percy and Thalia. She watched him lean back in the chair as she stood to the side of the counter. She bit her lip, avoiding his gaze.

"Hey." He smiled, and she couldn't help the half grin appearing on his face. "You told me earlier, I know it must be hard on you to take care of them." She blew her bangs out of her face and looked at his eyes. Green, like the sea must be, not the polluted water of the Atlantic off of the shore.

"Yeah, thanks." She shifted on her feet.

"I want your number." Percy said suddenly.

"_What_?" She sputtered. "No mister, I'm not going out with you." If it was possible, his smile got bigger. Percy laughed.

"No, not asking you out." His voice dropped lower, to a serious tone. "Just if you ever feel alone, call me." Thalia walked towards him, finding herself holding out her phone. She found herself reflecting over his words and Annabeth came out with Jason, and Katie with the dessert. She ended up smiling as Annabeth and Percy talked avidly about marine life, or when the three of them played twenty questions.

_If you ever feel alone. _

_Yeah,_ thought Thalia bitterly. _You better be ready, I walk the freaking Boulevard of Broken Dreams. _


End file.
